By Henry Ikenna

The people of Umuezenevu Village, Ibute-Egede Autonomous Community in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State have protested against those they said illegally entered their land and destroyed economic trees on the guise of building an estate.

The people joined by various men, women and youths organisations including members of the land committee in the community stormed the streets on Saturday, July, 2025, marching from their Awele Udeh Civic Hall, Umuezenevu to the land in question, with placards of various inscriptions calling on the Local Government Area Chairman Engr. Hyginus Agu and Governor Peter Mbah and the government of Enugu State to end the impunity of alleged land grabbers in their ancestral land.Addressing journalists at the land site, known and registered as Phoenix Layout Phases One to Four, which is located along the new dual carriage- 9th Mile ? Obollo Afor highway, the Chairman of Umuezenevu Village, Elder Patrick Onodu, said their protest is against alleged land grabbers who, without contact or negotiation entered Umuezenevu ancestral land destroying economic trees, damaging vegetation as they wreak havoc on farmland.

Elder Onodu added, ?we are calling on all those masking under various names to come out and remove their bulldozers and caterpillars from our land immediately for we have not sold nor authorised anybody, entity or estate agents or cronies to advertise for sale or carry out any form of land transactions for themselves or on behalf of Uumuezenevu village.

?Any such transaction without the express consent and knowledge of the Umuezenevu people and its traditional ruler, His Royal Highness, Igwe Dr. Ikenna Okwesili, is null and void. Whoever had any financial transactions on Umuezenevu land did so illegally.?

Corroborating the Chairman?s narrations, some of the aggrieved Youth leaderships explained that for almost two to three months, they witnessed the unfortunate trespass by some unidentified individuals into their ancestral expanse of land as referenced above, without their permission and destroyed so many of their cash crops which is source of their livelihood and which they explained were worth over N5billion.

The Umuezenevu people also quickly made a formal report to the Ezi Nze Police Station, to come to their rescue. Based on repeated surveillance by the Youths and discreet investigation by the police, it was discovered that EYA HOMES LTD was one of the masterminds of these nefarious and unwholesome activities.

On the basis of this latest discovery and development, the Police arranged for a meeting between the Community and the EYA HOMES LTD which the company unfortunately failed to meet. After a while and through the tireless efforts of the same Police, the company?s Managing Director Hon. Chinedu Eya and the village?s representatives eventually succeeded in having a physical meeting at Dragon Events Center, 82 Division, Enugu. After a lengthy but fruitless discussion, the company?s Managing Director was directed to stop further work on the land and evacuate his machines out of the site and he agreed.

But instead of abiding by this unanimous agreement, they returned to the site and continued work.

Also speaking, the Women Leader, Mrs. Bukki Anubueze and Mrs. Angela Mbaeze stated that with this unfortunate incursion to the land, they have nowhere again to carry out their farming activities. They stated further that if this ugly trend is not aborted now, their children might end up not having places to build houses both for now and in the near future.Wrapping up the protest, the Chairman of the Community advised the general public to be wary of land speculators and grabbers as not doing so is to their own avoidable risk.

Moreover, he pleaded with *His Excellency, Dr. Mbah, the Governor of Enugu State, whom he noted has zero tolerance for land grabbing, to come to their rescue as his community believes and holds high premium for peace and rule of law. (Vanguard)

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